Paris - Day 5

So last night when we were walking down our street I saw a chocolate chicken in the window.  I had to do a second look, how does a chocolate chicken not melt in a window?  Is it always shady on that side of the street? I couldn't get this place out of my mind and then I realized that one of my favorite blogs, davidlebovitz featured a video of Patrick Rogers chocolate factory. We went back today and talked to a wonderful man who explained what every chocolate was and that the temperature was controlled in the window which prevented the chocolate chicken from melting.  I bought two lovely boxes of chocolate and received a free sample for the road.

We took a trip on the Metro to one of my favorite food area's, Madeline.  As we were looking for directions to a place we stopped into a lovely flower shop and Ieuan asked for directions in French.  At a rapid fire pace she gave him directions, and then he begged for hand movements in the direction we were to go.  While this was going on Gwen, SB and myself were admiring this flower shop which screamed Paris.  SB was about to take a photo when the other lady quickly shouted "S'il vous plait, no photo" and a loud double clap.  We all quickly left the shop and giggled outside as we just got schooled like some french school kid. Hilarious.

Ten years ago I visited a store called Fauchon, I remember a bright pink awning with black writing. At that time I saw an older man come in and buy a pink box full of macaron's, which I had never had ten years ago.  I foolishly only bought carmels and a little hot pink purse full of dark chocolate almonds.  Now after all these years later I love beautiful tasty macarons.  However, Fauchon has changed a bit, much more commercial looking and less neighborly. 

The look is a bit 80's tacky, but was still full of macarons and chocolates.  I adored them back then, however I decided to skip on the macarons as Laduree had the ones I really wanted. We stopped here next and waited in line for a box of macarons.  Gorgeous inside.

Gwen's cousin had recommended Angelina's, which supposedly has the best hot chocolate in the city and a place that Coco Chanel and Audrey Hepburn have frequented.  We made our way down Rue Rivolo and found the place.

Gwen's iphone shot, not too bad.

Hands down, it is the best, even SB whose usual words are "it's good, it's fine" said "that has to be the best hot chocolate I've ever had."  Wow a reaction and compliment indeed.  Seriously tasted like two dark chocolate bars melted with a dab of cream.  

We strolled down the Jardin Tuillerie and enjoyed the peacefulness.

  

The Louvre was closed, which were weren't going to anyways but we did take some pictures outside, I didn't enjoy the grounds last time and only circled thru the museum.

Another recommendation was macaron's at Pierre Hermes which was in the Latin Quarter.  I stayed in this area last time but no one else had been there before.  This little shop was not easy to find and when we did, there was a line of pushy older ladies outside.  What a scene for macarons.  We finally got ours and made our way to a fountain outside and sat and all ate our macarons.  I had a apricot pistachio one, it's been my favorite so far.  Perfect combination and two of my favorite flavors.  When I get home I'm going to experiment with this combo.

Then one more stroll through the Jardin du Luxembourg.  We took a break again on a bench with our feet up and just relaxed before a stroll through the rest of the garden.  It was packed, literally.  Last time I'd come here it was early in the morning and maybe me and four other people were in the garden.  I ate my croissant and coffee all alone, what a difference.

Unfortunately after this very long day we had no energy to find a place to eat, so we took to our hotel, ran down the block, grabbed wine, cheese and a baguette and retired to our room for another hotel picnic.  

Paris was fabulous and the day and half was a tease.  There are soooooooo many places I'd like to visit here, one day I'll come back.

Paris - Day 4

Wow what to say about this day.  In a word "tired."  We are really super duper tired.  If anyone has ever done the Eurostar from London to Paris, they know what I mean.  G, Steph, Miche and Pat and I did this 10 years ago, and let me tell you it's the same thing.  Exhausting.  They only thing that keeps you going is it's Paris and indeed it is.  We saw so much today even though it was afternoon when we arrived.

First landmark out of the Metro was the Arc de Triumph and then off to the Eiffel Tower,  I finally got to see it from a perspective I often see in fashion shoots by the military museum.  There was also a starting point for a mile long crowd of rollerblader's, oh I wished I had stayed to see the start of that.  It was crowded in the area that has the view of the tower with French protestors, which I've heard is NOT unusual.  But the picture above, NOT retouched was from this area.  Gorgeous view. We also took some very interesting photographs from under the Eiffel Tower, very cool.

Before the boat tour we notice afashion  photoshoot going on, so I snapped a few of my own. 

 Love it.

 This is a glorious rich, gold shiny bridge.  So decadent.

Afterwards we took a cruise on the Seine River, which I've never done before.  This was a great idea as our tired feet needed a rest and this is a perfect way to see all the major sites.  The bridges and buildings were amazing.  I absolutely loved the carousel.  

We did try to go to a recommended place for dinner, but it was closed. So we settled for another place which was not really very appealing so no photos. Actually the food could have been marvelous, but we were so exhausted that putting the fork to our mouth was more than a minor effort, it was the hardest thing to do next to walking back to our hotel.

Books I've Read - January

I just finished this fascinating book called the Billionaire's Vinegar. It's all about a bottle of wine sold thru Christies that broke auction records. Supposedly it's a bottle that Thomas Jefferson purchased from the Chateau and had engraved with his initials, year and vintage. In 1985 it was sold to Malcolm Forbes for $160K. The story features a few real life collectors and one man, Hardy Rodenstock, who seems to suspiciously stumble upon the oldest bottles of wine. I love wine, but can't say I know much about it. This book was a fascinating journey on what kinds of tasting notes wine specialists make, on Christies and Sotheby's auctions and the people who run them, how to make a 1787 vintage fake wine, then how to test wine to see if its fake (i.e. radation before and after the a-bombs) and why some people collect wine to store in a cellar and others drink it, seriously why wouldn't you drink it. If you love wine you'll enjoy this book immensely. I enjoy a good mystery, love history and am grateful to learn something new anytime I take a week to read a book.


My dear friend Bekah and I like to swap books and she told me I must read the above book. I started it last night and already laughed on Page 2. The Sweet Life in Paris: Delicous Adventures in the World's Most Glorious - and Perplexing - City. David Lebowitz has a funny sense of humor and I love when people can just pick up there lives and move to a new city, foreign one at that. I know I'd have to learn patience if I moved anywhere as things are done so much differently. But that's the charm of it all. I'll share a few snippets as I get further into the book. It has fantastic recipes that have already made me salivate.